The light air wave sailing is where it gets even more interesting. About 7 or 8 yrs ago Ted James of Fox Watersports finally shaped me a "Fat Guys" wave board. It's a big version of his clasic 8"6" wave,Mine is 9'4" X263/8 at about 135L.

It really is a wave board design and is really sweet on those 12-18 knt days with a clean break.

I had it designed for Lake Erie with it's steep short wave lenth conditions where I wanted to work the waves and not go flat out

I'm not sure anyone is really up for custom boards any more. Its fun to come up with Ideas and say build what I want.

wind SUP 11'8" allows me to not paddle. if the wind is 2-7 side off, i'm sailing. if 5-12 i'm smiling as much as the waves provide. if 10-20 i'm thinking about another board. 13-23 i've got my new X-Cross 130 240x82 cm and thin as a pancake.

most common wind available here in florida: 7-12 mph. most common kit: 7.5 phantom and the 11'8"

I doubt the second statement. It may be the equipment you see, but given the size of Florida, you won't ever see much. Like most punks your age down there, you will make grandiose in accurate statements about "Florida" based on your limited experience. In the summer the windless days far outnumber those with 7-12 mph winds. Since most of the posts presented over night are me, myself and I testimonies like those of wsmtbskate, I am going to include my truly "long board" experiences. Funny someone would mention an Equipe because I had possession of one for a summer. I just saw one in Norwalk, Conn. put up for sale on e-bay for $200. I'm not going to drive all the way to Norwalk for a pick up of something like that even if it were free. It just isn't worth it. In high school I tried a surfing longboard with a buddy down on coast guard beach. It didn't excite me at all. Many years later my first season on a windsurfing board was on a 12 foot used poly board with a dagger. I had it on a lake. It was a lot of fun, but at the end of the season I was ready to sell it. I had converted the universal to a standard one. Most of the universals in the late 70's and early 80's on long boards were mfg.'er specific. I also fitted the boom with a clamp-on head. The swaps were big and active in Boston then, and the board was easy to sell.

I own an old Mistral Equipe, Kona One, Kona 11-5, and the Exocet WindSUP 11-8. My experience with all these boards is this:

If I want to go out flat water cruising and sailing on a long board, or participate in fun long board races, the Kona One, 11-5 and the WindSUP cannot compare to the Mistral Equipe for overall performance and speed, especially upwind! It is my hands down choice for that kind of sailing. However, IMO it has never been a friendly beginner or casual sailor type long board due its more technical nature to sail well, and more narrow width and tail design etc. making it less stable than boards like the Kona One. Plus you can't use it very well as an SUP!

The Kona One however, is a great all around fun long board for just cruising around, is very stable and easy to sail. You can teach people to windsurf on it, beginners and intermediates can enjoy sailing it, and with a bigger sail in higher winds it is surprisingly fast too! I especially enjoy putting a 9.3 or 9.0 on it and just blasting along. Once up on a plane the step tail shortens the apparent board length and the Kona will turn easier and carve turns tighter than a traditional long board. Although not my first choice for light wind wave sailing it can be used for this as well and is a fun board to sail out on the ocean too. The one thing I don't like about the Kona One is that when sub-planing and when the dagger board is down, it really lacks performance and feels draggy, compared to the highly efficient Mistral Equipe when sailing with the daggerboard extended.
Another thing good though about the Kona One is that it can also be used as an SUP if you want which increases its versatility! I think that if begginer and intermediate friendly boards like the Kona One or others like it would have been around in the 90's, that a lot more people might who tried windsurfing, might have stuck with it!

As for the Kona 11-5 (now the Exocet Curve 11-5), and the WindSUP, both of these boards are primarily oriented towards light wind wave and ocean sailing. They do this very well and make going out over the white water, and catching waves back in easy and fun! I use the Kona 11-5 for winds in the 12-20knot range primarily with a 6.8 - 7.5 sail. The WindSUP is the board of choice for 5-15knots with a 7.5. Plus with it's daggerboard you can go out on the ocean and sail/surf swells way down wind. Then just kick the dagger board down and use it to easily take you back up wind!
Both of these boards give you the opportunity to get out and sail the ocean and surf the waves in the lightest of winds when you would otherwise be sitting on the beach wind-whining. Plus uphauling on them in light winds while out in the waves and surf and when the board is pitching, rolling and yawing, is very easy. If the wind drops to much just take the sail off the WindSUP and grab your paddle and continue to have fun surfing or just flat water paddling!

The other great thing about the WindSUP is that it is a super board for beginners who want a easy to sail, fun board that they can both paddle as an SUP and learn to sail on and which can eventually take them out on the ocean and waves. It is stable enough to teach on too!!

Certainly there are pros and cons to all these boards and personal likes and dislikes. The above opinions are just my personal ones based on years of windsurfing and continuing enjoyment of the fun long boards can offer in lighter wind conditons whether out on the ocean or in the flatter waters.

Windnc's comments are excellent.
Especially ringing true for me are his comments on the Windsup 11'8. "uphauling on them in light winds while out in the waves and surf and when the board is pitching, rolling and yawing, is very easy". Bingo, that's it exactly.
And "Plus with it's daggerboard you can go out on the ocean and sail/surf swells way down wind. Then just kick the dagger board down and use it to easily take you back up wind!"
Well said, and thanks for taking the time to formulate such great points.

Mr. Ingebritsen is indeed a teamrider for Exocet, but I doubt he sold his soul. His advise has always seemed sound to me, and he rides Exocets because he likes them, being a teamrider is just a bonus.

I've been accused of selling out as well, but it's just not true. Sure, I get a discount on some of my gear, but I'm not going to use stuff I don't like just to save a couple hunnert bucks a year, that would be crazy!

I don't have a board sponsor and don't want one, but I'll tell you that I have 3 Exocets myself, and they're one of the best-performing and best-built boards I've sailed in my 22 years of windsurfing. Saving up for a WindSUP right now!_________________Spennie the Wind Junkie
www.WindJunkie.net

I would have to concur about the longboards. I have a kona 9.5 and a 11.5 and a new phantom 377. These boards are awesome! The konas are great for the wavey onshore we get on lake Huron. Very easy to sail. I use the 11.5 with a custom 40 cm fin and it works great. the 9.5 is great in higher winds. Very smooth and truly effortless sailing. The phantom though, takes the cake. I sail it with the severe raceboard 9.5 and this thing is a revolution. Planes for me (200lbs) in 9 knots with no pumping. From 5-15 knots it is a blast. Again effortless sailing as compared to a formula board. Not that fast (20 knots is my max) but easy to put miles in. Never worry about getting home! Upwind is a breeze. Probably the easiest board to stay in the straps I have ever sailed.
Life is good on a longboard!
Joe

Mr. Ingebritsen is indeed a teamrider for Exocet, but I doubt he sold his soul. His advise has always seemed sound to me, and he rides Exocets because he likes them, being a teamrider is just a bonus.

I've been accused of selling out as well, but it's just not true. Sure, I get a discount on some of my gear, but I'm not going to use stuff I don't like just to save a couple hunnert bucks a year, that would be crazy!

I don't have a board sponsor and don't want one, but I'll tell you that I have 3 Exocets myself, and they're one of the best-performing and best-built boards I've sailed in my 22 years of windsurfing. Saving up for a WindSUP right now!

Ahhhh, who is knocking Exocet? Seems like you are looking for a way to get up on a soapbox, spennie. I own an Exocet formula board and like it. Then again, I own 2 Bics, 1 Mistral, 1 Angulo, 1 Fanatic, 1 Hi fly, 1 HiTech, 1 AHD and 1 Naish and find all of them are worth their weight in Gold.

Good day today, got in the straps on my Windsup.
Lately I've mostly been sailing my 02' Starboard free formula 198L, but I'm discovering it's very one dimensional, it needs just the right amount of wind not too much and not too little.
I had much more fun on the Windsup, the free formula is like driving a race car in the mountains and then getting stuck in traffic, while the Windsup is like going 120 MPH in a Bentley down the highway, relaxed and in control.
Windsup goes upwind like crazy, who would ever use the daggerboard?
One other thing I discovered is that because I'm so tall the boom can never rest on the tail of my boards, except the windsup. Makes waterstarting so much easier.

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